John Barrowman Sounds Incredibly Sad About Not Being Asked To Join Doctor Who’s 50th (So Are We)

We already pretty much knew John Barrowman was not going to reprise his role of Captain Jack Harkness for Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary but we have to admit, we were still holding out hope. And we aren’t the only ones.

When we last left this saga, Barrowman had said he would definitely not be in the 50th anniversary episode but we thought perhaps he’d pop up in another special. But from what he said to TV Line, it seems his phone hasn’t rung at all.

“Everyone on Twitter tries to make it like it’s my decision, but the bottom line is I was not asked,” Barrowman told them. “[The Powers That Be] don’t want to put Jack in it. And I know fans are really upset about it, as was I.”

The actor also made sure to point out it wasn’t for lack of trying. “People have tried to say it’s my schedule; it’s absolutely not,” he said. ”I was told by the producers of Arrow that if I was asked to do the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who they’d let me go and do it. It was nothing to do with my schedule. It’s just a matter of fact that I wasn’t asked.”

Similar to some other casting omissions for the special episode, this one really bums me out. “I understand why they did it. They want to move forward, they want to try some different things,” said Barrowman. “I know from how [former EP exec producer Russell T. Davies] approached things, they’re not doing [the special] just for the uber fan; they’re doing it for the wider audience. And if they’re going to bring a character back it wouldn’t be just for the uber fan, it would be foreverybody. So perhaps that’s the thinking they had. I don’t know.”

Barrowman may understand but I’m betting a lot of Whovians won’t. Can we still hope for some type of reference? Maybe the Face of Bo will show up? Probably not.